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Thursday, August 4, 2011

The Necromaniac Chapter 5 "Frozen Fury" Part 4

"Frozen Fury" Part 4

We were on our way. The journey to the village seemed to take about half ﻿an hour. When we were getting close to the village, the snow seemed to part and make way for a cobblestone path. At that point, Kuve stopped to let us step off and we continued on foot from there. After a minute or so, we came up to a tall, icy gate. The ice school symbol was at the center where the two gate doors were divided. Two Colossus guards stood at the entrance, blocking the way ahead of us. But after Kuve had identified himself to the guards and convinced them we were with him, we gained access as the gates slowly creaked open. At the village, it was only snowing lightly, unlike in the far-off plains, where the snow was falling as a heavy blizzard.

As we walked, or in Kuve's case, slithered, through the gates, I looked around to get a good look of the village. The buildings on the sides of the cobblestone streets were usually either made of ice or some kind of dark-colored stone. They couldn't be obsidian because that'd be a bit unusual for a world like Frostus. It also just made me realize then that I hadn't even looked up to see what the skies of Frostus were like. I had to be careful not to lean too far back because Kuve had mentioned that the cobblestone streets were a bit slippery from ice. Good thing he mentioned it too. I carefully look up at the sky and see nothing but clouds. Not dark clouds, but rather light grey clouds that always seem to rain down snow. I figured there must have been some kind of sun somewhere behind those clouds. Kuve continues to lead us through the village and he stops and walks up to an Evil Snowman running a stand. Kuve takes a look back at us and then turns back to the Snowman and he tells him something. The Evil snowman nods and crouches down and pulls out two pairs of what appear to be winter shoes. Kuve hands him some silver coins and recieves the shoes. He slithers over to me and Sestiva. "Here," he says, handing us the shoes, "Put these on, they will provide extra traction against the cobblestone and make it less easier to slip on the ice."

Me and Sestiva each take off the shoes we're wearing and put on the winter shoes. They're made of soft, brown leather and you button them up when you put them on your feet. I put away mine's and Sestiva's other pair and try walking around in them and sure enough, they work perfectly. I'm about to ask Kuve why he didn't give Death a pair but then I look over to Death and see that he levitating on dark cloud that seems to eminate from the bottom of his robe. I won't even ask if Death has any feet. I guess he could use some if he wanted to. We continue on our tour through the village.

We come to the center of the village square when I notice a large, frozen fountain that has a Snow Angel statue at the top. "The statue looks great", I say, walking up to it to get a good look at it.

"Yeah, that's a statue of King Arubolis, the Snow Angel that rules the village of Frostus," Kuve began, "He came into power after the Frost Giants that once ruled this world were put to sleep. They were encased in ice and are in the icy mountain ranges beyond the village, but the area is restricted and access to it can only be gained by permission from Arubolis himself."

I then explain to Kuve that a blizzard has broken out across the spiral and that we need to get into the mountains as soon as possible.

"Well, I don't know. Getting an audience with Arubolis isn't exactly easy. And plus even getting access to the mountains will be even harder. I hope you're able to somehow convince him to let you go there."

"Don't worry," I try to assure him, "I'm sure I'll find a way to get him to let us have access to the mountains." I look up at the sky and notice that it's getting darker. "Although it is getting late in the day. I suggest we make an appearance before Arubolis tomorrow. In the mean time, I hope it's not too much to ask if we could stay somewhere for the night."

"Oh, not at all! I'll take you to my burrow and you can get rested up until then!", he says, beaming. He leads us to a part on the outskirts of the village and we find what seems to be an empty spot between 2 houses. But when we get closer, there's actually a hole there dug beneath the snow that leads down into a tunnel. We walk down into it and discover what appears to be an underground cavern. The place is lit by many small candles. We're lead into what looks like a guest bedroom. There are some cushions on the floor in the corner of the room with a large blanket on top of each. It may not seem like much, but I didn't complain. Kuve tells us we're free to chill (heheh, this chapter is just full of puns) here while he go gets some things to fix up for dinner. We hang out a while and start a small campfire to warm up around. I wrap my arm around Sestiva for warmth and offer her my hand, and she entwines her hand in mine. Kuve comes back with dinner, where we are given some ice water to drink along with some frost mint salad and Shanta Pudding. I find it ironic we're being served a pet snack for dinner but I don't mention it. After our bellies are filled, me and Sestiva head to bed as Kuve and Death offer to take the first night watch. Before I dose off into dreamland, a few thoughts cross my mind. I think about some of the events that led up to now. I thought about Sestiva, who was sleeping in the cushion next to mine. She's been threatened with harm twice. Once in Sorceria, when she could've been lethally injected by a Scorpion and a second time when she was being carried away by some Colossi back in the icy tundras. I decide that I can't afford to lose her. I'd be totally devastated, almost as if I'm losing a part of me. I finally decide that in the morning, I'm gonna teach her everything I know about how to fight.

I wake up the next morning to see that Sestiva's still asleep. Good, she'll need the rest more than me. I go over to the living room to find that Kuve and Death are also up. I greet them as I walk up to meet them. I explain to them that I want to teach Sestiva how to fight, but I would need their help. I explained to them what I had in mind. We went out of the burrow for a bit to set up some obstacles such as large blocks of snow, snowmen, and we even set up piles of snow. When we get back into Kuve's burrow, we're just in time to see that Sestiva is just getting up.

"Morning, guys", she says while wiping her eyes.

"Morning Sest, I need to talk to you," I begin. Sestiva looks at me with a willingness to listen to what I'm about to say. "You see, you've been put in danger twice in the last few days with no way to defend yourself. You've come away with lucky escapes both times and next time you may not be so lucky. Sestiva, I love you and I care deeply for you and more importantly, I don't want to lose you. So today, I'm going to teach you everything I know how to fight." I wait for a reaction for a few moments. Is she going to be mad? Will she be offended or upset thinking that I view her as weak and defenseless?

Instead, she gives me a different reaction. She leaps forward and throws her arms around me and gives me a kiss. "That's really sweet of you, Timothy," she begins, "And I'm glad you're doing this because to be honest, I don't do a whole lot most of the time but keep company. Whenever there's danger, you're always there to spring into action and confront whatever threatens us. So I'd be more than happy to learn from the one who protects me."

"Then I'd more than happy to teach you", I say, smiling. Sestiva smiles too. I give her a kiss and whisper in her ear, "And by the way, you're already great company."

Soon afterwards, we're outside the burrow. I start off by teaching Sestiva some of the basic self defense techniques I learned from training with the FBI. I also teach her a few moves I've picked up over the years. We then work on some evasive maneuvers. Me, Kuve, and Death launch one snowball at a time at Sestiva as she starts to dodge one after one. More snowballs are gradually thrown at a time as she is challenged to do a bit more dodging. She gets hit a couple times at first but I give her some encouragement to keep on trying. The encouragement seems to help as she dodges more of them with better precision. After that, we go on to endurance. Kuve sets up some large blocks of snow in a straight line and puts a blue flag at the end. The key is to try to burst through the snow as fast as you can and to be able to stay on your feet while you do so to get to the flag. After a few drills, we take a small break. It's about noon, so we've been training for about 3-4 hours. Last, we work on hand-to-hand combat. I teach a lot combat moves to Sestiva and have her practice them on some of the snowmen. Afterwards, it's time for a final test. She has to take on me. I have Sestiva wear some padding and a helmet so that she won't get hurt, but I don't wear any protection. "What if you get hurt?", she asks, worried.

"That's alright, I can take a couple hits. Just promise me you'll give it all you got.", I reply. She nods and we walk up to meet, ready for combat. We raise our fists, ready to put up our dukes. Before she can make a move, I start off with a few light punches. The first couple land hits but she manages to block off the rest. I look to see if I've hurt her yet but the padding is working well, keeping her unharmed. She tries to deliver a roundhouse kick to my gut but I catch her foot and tip her back, trying to throw her off balance, but she quickly recovers. She comes up and starts delivering a round of punches, which I easily block. She keeps delivering more and more but I continue to block them. She delays only for just a split moment after having the roll of punches provide her a distraction and throws out a kick. It was intended to hit my side but he leg lifts up a bit higher and her foots slams into my head, knocking me off my feet as I slam into the ground. She shrieks as she realizes what she's done. She quickly holds me up with her arms. Kuve and Death rush to her side to attend to me. I'm a bit dazed with a bloody nose and a black eye, but other than that I'm ok. I open my eyes to see a concerned Kuve and Death looking at me with worry and a teary eyed Sestiva holding me. After a few moments I say, "Dang, Sest. You sure know how to pack a punch. Don't worry though, I've taken worser beatings. But you've passed." I smile as I see her face light up as we all gather into one big embrace. We each congratulate Sestiva and we go back to the burrow, with Sestiva helping me along the way because I kept wobbling and teetering when I tried to walk on my own. I sit down in the cavern as a cloth and a pack of ice are used to treat my bloody nose and black eye. Sestiva keeps looking at me with concern, almost in unbelief that she was the one who caused it but I keep assuring her that it's okay. We decide to hold off our visit to see Arubolis till tomorrow since we're all worn out from training. Sestiva offers to sleep with me that night, hoping it will make me feel better and I don't object. We fall asleep in each other's arms that night. I fall asleep almost immediately, since she's so warm. I'm gonna need the rest, cause tomorrow I'll be face to face with Arubolis and if he forbids me going to the mountains, my mission will have already failed...